Training Log Archive: simmo

Around the river, usual Friday ride crew with BB from ACT and his son on a fixie, breakfast at The Other Side.

Kings Park, slow pace but after the first km (6 mins) the calves were feeling very tight and the left in particular felt on the edge of tearing. Slowed to a shuffle, probably 7 mins+/km. Still very tight but after the hilly, rollercoaster section I felt a bit more confident to stretch out again, and maybe did the last km in under 6 mins.

Around the river, met Noel at East Fremantle, then the usual route to The Other Side for breakfast. PP, Richard & Nicole already there. Very hot by the time we left and 36C by the time we got home.

Bassendean, SCR there, but with a tailwind and good path along the rail line managed mostly BCR back to East Perth.

And now a bike ride too!. To Cottesloe and back for Christmas breakfast, SCR all the way, the thumb a little tender on any bump and was rubbing on the glove, so I took that off. Cool breezes but not too cold for a brief dip in the ocean.

Stitches were all removed last Friday, today the hand therapist removed all the dead skin - except it wasn't quite dead - ouch! The new skin underneath is very tender, will be for a few days I think.

Also, Duncan confirmed frozen shoulder and injected cortisone into the shoulder joint this morning.

Yes! A run at last. Very slow cruise around Hyde Park at 6am before the temperature lifted.

Saw surgeon today, tumour was benign (as expected), but was quite difficult to remove involving complex repair of several nerves. There is also a roughly 10% chance of recurrence.

There were 20-odd stitches zig-zagging across my thumb making any movement or force very painful, thus restricting much of my normal day-to-day activities including exercise outside of walking.

Every second stitch was removed today, an excruciatingly painful episode. The rest will be removed Friday and I have been advised to take a good dose of panadeine forte beforehand. Hopefully though things will quickly be back to normal thereafter.

Event: Harrisdale (Metro Series 2015-16)
 

Walked medium course at Harrisdale Metro event. Reasonable route, but could have been a few hundred metres better. Should have got 1 first, and done 19-23-24-22-18-17. Actually did 19-22-24-17, then had to get 14 & 4 later on. A rogainer would have spotted that.

Full route: 7-11-9-10-19-22-24-17-13-2-14-4-3-12-6-8-1.

Surgery to remove a giant cell tumour from my right thumb. The tumour was discovered serendipitously when I had x-rays after a fall during mapping of Amaze'n Margaret River and damaged the knuckle of the middle finger. Turned out all the bones in that part of the hand were fine, but the photo revealed scalloping of the thumb bone, and a subsequent MRI showed a large (in relation to the size of the thumb) tumour squeezed between the tendon and bone.

For various reasons (mainly orienteering trips and trying to get my knee right) I delayed the surgery for 12 months, by which time a new MRI showed the bone was now very thin. My specialist has a good reputation as a skilled hand surgeon, but poor communication skills, but at least he was able to expedite the activity.

Around the river, light winds for a change. SCR most of the way, moderate following wind along Marine Parade so changed up, but not for long. Breakfast at The Other Side, detour to East Perth to pick the car up from smash repairs (ask PP about that!).

Ride over to Dad's and back - still in SCR.